This is what my farrier recommended me to be. The guy who helped me load Fox last week also said I handle Fox too 'soft' I found out today.
The fact that Fox tried to kick me on Saturday is making me think all theses things through again. Behaviour like this needs to be nipped in the bud. It is not acceptable in any way shape or form. So if I have been letting Fox think he can get away with this it's not good and I really need to change.
I think I'm going to have to try and find a happy median between these two roads until Fox has got it into his little brain that stuff like this is not ok. Lots of ground work trying to instill basic manners again following the way I originally wanted but if Fox pushes it then I get to channel my inner bitch. Not lose my temper though. He's a smart cookie, it shouldn't take him too long to realise that if he pulls that crap he's not going to get away with it.
On another note, my farrier who I found out yesterday is also a body worker checked Fox's back end and it's all fine. So it's back to behavioural problems for his feet. He does have some issues with his front around his withers though. Which means it's probably time for another saddle fitting.
We also got to see how Fox's crazy brain works especially well today. The farrier who uses rubber mallet thingies to treat the problems did one little tap on the top of Fox's withers. Before this Fox was standing peacefully but when this happened he just went into total panic mode. He just absolutely lost his mind in a split second. This is such a good indication of how his brain is wired, along with his pressure to resistance. He is such a hard horse to work with sometimes and such an easy one at others. He's my big conundrum.
A quick tip for kicking horses. My horse used to kick out at people, even me but to a lesser extent, because I was a mean bitch to her. It didn't mean that I didn't love her, just that I felt threatened by her and I didn't want to get injured. She used to rear up, kick out, push me. To the point until my sister got kicked. Don't get me wrong, my sister is a hefty woman and she went flying 6 feet without ever touching the ground, we noticed afterwards because there was snow on the ground and it was untouched when she travelled through the air. She got hit right in the solar plexus. We are greatful that she had a snowmobile jacket on made of some kind of kevlar. Even if this all happened, the situation before the kick predisposed the horse to kick out. My parents were in the pasture and they usually got really nervous around her, they get nervous, she gets nervous and it all tumbles down from there. After that happened, I created rules for the people around my horse. There would be no striking (my dad took a habit to strike at her face when I only told him to nudge her on the mouth if she tries to bite! Got me REALLY upset), no screaming or panicking, everyone is to remain calm as a way to calm the horse down. I had a whole set of rules (about 15 of them) and it worked! I made it very clear that those rules had to be respected for the safety of everyone. I am still stern with my horse (any horse), I don't beat on them, only correct them if they get ahead of me. The trick here is repetition. Same for feet, my horse had never had her feet handled when I got her at two years of age... I started small, asking for her foot for 2 seconds, then worked my way up from there, back feet took a long time, since she struck out. Today, she is good on all levels. When lunging, if your horse ever turns to face you on an unappropriate time, it's because he is testing you, whether you will let him stop or push him to move again. If you let him stop, he wins... therefore, he is unlearning. You must not be afraid, remember that you have a lunge whip in your hands in case things went wrong. My mare struck out kicking at me on the lunge line... I smacked her twice, hard enough so she would know I meant business and never did it again, although she still tested me plenty. You need to make your horse believe that you are the stronger one, in the wild the stronger ones lead... if he can push and pull you around, he thinks he needs to take the lead and show you what to do. Good luck! Don't be beating on him, just stern, picture it as a small window, he needs to fit right in this window to succeed, anything else will not be tolerated and will be corrected with different levels of intensity. I will never correct a horse that does not stand tied like a horse that strikes out, you need to gauge your response and make sure you do not create an ambiance or something that will push him to react a certain way. Long comment, but I hope it helps!
ReplyDelete